A Chat with Dave Burt

I’m a guy who loves life, I’m an entrepreneur, just trying to run my own race I guess. I run a platform on Instagram called @london where we try to champion London as the no. 1 city on the global stage. I built my agency off of the back of that. So many brands were contacting me about helping run their platforms, so now we do a bit of consultancy regarding social media. We know what works well and what doesn’t.

Have you heard of the guy who did haircuts for homeless people? Josh Coombes. We worked with him on that. A campaign called ‘Do Something For Nothing’. Instagram contacted us saying they want to work with us on the campaign, and they’ll be broadcasting it across Instagram in the next 3 months - but I can’t say too much about that. Even Will doesn’t know about that! [laughs]

How did you first hear about Vitae?

I already had a relationship with Will and it was quite organic. I’ve seen it right from the start.

What then led you to get involved as a social influencer?

It’s the value behind it. The social impact, the fact that Vitae gives back, and that they genuinely care. Other brands contact me but don’t really care. They say “Oh wow I love your page”, but they’ve never even seen my page. They offer to pay me big sums to post their watch on my page, but I’ve declined a lot, but said yes to Will and I'm happy to do it for nothing. I’ve known Will for a while, I’ve seen his entrepreneurship grow and I’m from a faith background too, so can relate with that.

What three words come to mind when you think of Vitae?

Kindness. Altruism. Style.

What makes Vitae different?

The fact that the revenue goes back into supporting others.

What do you think about Vitae’s initiative to give back to school children in South Africa? Is it something that more brands should be doing?

I think that every brand should have an element of social responsibility.

You run an incredible platform that reflects London culture. Does Vitae have a role to play in London culture? If so, what do you think that is?

Yes. Vitae could increasingly be more involved in British fashion, grow amongst young people and hopefully inspire more social action in the UK.